Automated configuration and installation of virtualized solutions

ABSTRACT

An installation system for a multiple device, multiple application solution may include options for installing and configuring one or more of the devices as virtual machines. The installation system may start from bare hardware, install a virtual machine host, and configure one or more devices as virtual machines. The installation system may provide a set of predefined configurations from which an administrator may choose, and some embodiments may provide various algorithms or optimization routines to select an appropriate configuration based on intended uses or other factors. The configurations may be customized to create one or more documents that may be consumed during the installation process to automate many configuration settings.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of andpriority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/839,110, entitled“Automated Configuration And Installation Of Virtualized Solutions”,filed Aug. 28, 2015 by Steven Bourne, the entire contents of which areexpressly incorporated by reference. That application is a continuationof and claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/684,946, entitled “Automated Configuration And InstallationOf Virtualized Solutions”, filed Jan. 10, 2010 by Steven Bourne, theentire contents of which are expressly incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Installing complex software systems can be a lengthy and frustratingprocess even for experienced information technology professionals. Somecomplex software systems may operate on multiple hardware or softwareplatforms to deliver multiple applications in a single solution.

For example, a business enterprise may use multiple applications tomanage the business and provide computing services to employees andcustomers. The applications may include email applications, malwaredetection services, file services, as well as underlying services suchas authentication, network management, device management, and otherservices. The ‘solution’ in this example may be many of theapplications, services, and other components that enable the business tofunction effectively.

In many businesses, the computer infrastructure may include multipledevices that deliver portions of the overall solution. Multiple devicesmay be used for redundancy as well as load balancing or separation.Redundancy may be useful for some devices that provide widely usedservices, such as authentication services, where even a short outage maycause unwanted delays. Load balancing or load separation may be usefulwhen one application or service may consume much of the processing orother bandwidth of a single device, so that having different serverswith different applications may not overload one or more servers.

SUMMARY

An installation system for a multiple device, multiple applicationsolution may include options for installing and configuring one or moreof the devices as virtual machines. The installation system may startfrom bare hardware, install a virtual machine host, and configure one ormore devices as virtual machines. The installation system may provide aset of predefined configurations from which an administrator may choose,and some embodiments may provide various algorithms or optimizationroutines to select an appropriate configuration based on intended usesor other factors. The configurations may be customized to create one ormore set of installation settings that may be consumed during theinstallation process to automate many configuration operations.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustration of an embodiment showing a device thatmay be used to create a set of installation settings.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustration of an embodiment showing a networkenvironment in which a multi-device solution may be implemented.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustration of an embodiment showing a deviceduring an installation process.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustration of an embodiment showing a deviceduring the first stage of a virtual machine installation process.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustration of an embodiment showing a deviceduring the second state of a virtual machine installation process.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustration of an embodiment showing a method forinstalling devices.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An installation system may determine a installation settings that may beused to automatically install several devices, including some devices asvirtual machines. The devices may perform various functions, and may beconfigured with the same or different applications and services. In manycases, the devices may be configured to operate in conjunction with eachother to deliver a solution comprising multiple applications andservices.

The installation system may install and configure operating systems,virtual machine hosts, virtual machine guests, as well as applicationsand services. The installation process may be highly automated bygenerating a set of installation settings that may be consumed byscripts, applications, or other automated systems that perform theinstallation and configuration.

The solution may be installed on various hardware topologies. Forexample, a three device solution may be installed on a single hardwareplatform with each device as a virtual device, or the same solution maybe installed on two hardware platforms with one device installednatively on one hardware platform and two devices installed as virtualdevices. The installation may be performed on bare hardware for which nooperating system is installed, or on existing hardware platforms thatmay include virtual machine hosts.

The installation system may have several mechanisms to determinehardware topologies, including user input through dialog boxes or otherinteraction, as well as automated mappers that may gather hardware andsoftware information from existing devices.

Throughout this specification, like reference numbers signify the sameelements throughout the description of the figures.

When elements are referred to as being “connected” or “coupled,” theelements can be directly connected or coupled together or one or moreintervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when elements arereferred to as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled,” thereare no intervening elements present.

The subject matter may be embodied as devices, systems, methods, and/orcomputer program products. Accordingly, some or all of the subjectmatter may be embodied in hardware and/or in software (includingfirmware, resident software, micro-code, state machines, gate arrays,etc.) Furthermore, the subject matter may take the form of a computerprogram product on a computer-usable or computer-readable storage mediumhaving computer-usable or computer-readable program code embodied(embedded?) in the medium for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system. In the context of this document, acomputer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that cancontain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for useby or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, ordevice.

The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be for example, butnot limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagationmedium. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable mediamay comprise computer storage media and communication media.

Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storageof information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules, or other data. Computer storage media includes, but isnot limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memorytechnology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other opticalstorage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used tostore the desired information and may be accessed by an instructionexecution system. Note that the computer-usable or computer-readablemedium can be paper or other suitable medium upon which the program isprinted, as the program can be electronically captured via, forinstance, optical scanning of the paper or other suitable medium, thencompiled, interpreted, of otherwise processed in a suitable manner, ifnecessary, and then stored in a computer memory.

Communication media typically embodies computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated datasignal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includesany information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” can bedefined as a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set orchanged in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By wayof example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired mediasuch as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless mediasuch as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations ofany of the above-mentioned should also be included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media.

When the subject matter is embodied in the general context ofcomputer-executable instructions, the embodiment may comprise programmodules, executed by one or more systems, computers, or other devices.Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, and the like, that perform particular tasksor implement particular abstract data types. Typically, thefunctionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed asdesired in various embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an embodiment 100, showing a system for creatinginstallation settings. Embodiment 100 is a simplified example of adevice that may create installation settings that may be used to installand configure solutions that include multiple devices on varioushardware platforms.

The diagram of FIG. 1 illustrates functional components of a system. Insome cases, the component may be a hardware component, a softwarecomponent, or a combination of hardware and software. Some of thecomponents may be application level software, while other components maybe operating system level components. In some cases, the connection ofone component to another may be a close connection where two or morecomponents are operating on a single hardware platform. In other cases,the connections may be made over network connections spanning longdistances. Each embodiment may use different hardware, software, andinterconnection architectures to achieve the described functions.

Embodiment 100 is an example of a system that may prepare for theinstallation of multiple devices and applications on those devices. Inmany cases, the multiple devices and applications may provide a‘solution’ that addresses a complex business goal, such as providing aninformation technology infrastructure for a business unit.

Preparing for installation may involve determining proper configurationsof the various devices as well as options and other configurationparameters for applications that operate on the devices. A userinterface may be used to gather information about the devices, theapplications to be executed on the devices, as well as hardware topologyon which the devices may operate.

Installation settings may define specific tasks, configuration settings,and other information that may be used to highly automate theinstallation and configuration process. The settings may be used by aninstallation manager to properly sequence an installation, configureoperating system and applications, and prepare the device for operation.

In some cases, the devices may be installed as virtual machines. Virtualmachines are software constructs that simulate a hardware device, andallow applications, services, and other software to operate as if thedevice were a normal, physical device. In many embodiments, a virtualmachine may be an isolated duplicate of a real machine.

A virtual machine host is typically a physical machine with an operatingsystem. The virtual machine host may have a virtual environment in whichvirtual machine guests may operate. The virtual machine guest may haveits own dedicated operating system that may or may not be the sameoperating system as being executed on the virtual machine host. In manycases, the virtual machine guest may be a different operating systemthan that of the host.

Throughout this specification and claims, a ‘device’ may refer to anoperating system and applications that operate on a hardware platform.In some instances, the ‘device’ may be a virtual machine, where theoperating system and applications are virtualized and may operate withother virtual machines on a single hardware platform. In somereferences, the term ‘device’ may include both a hardware platform andsoftware components, but in a virtual machine guest, the ‘device’ mayonly be a software implementation without a hardware component, and thevirtual machine guest may operate on the hardware platform provided by avirtual machine host.

The device 102 is illustrated as a conventional computing device thathas a hardware platform 104 and several software components 106. Thedevice 102 may be a desktop computer, server computer, laptop computer,or any other computing device. In some embodiments, the device 102 maybe a handheld computing device such as a mobile telephone or personaldigital assistant.

The hardware platform 104 may include a processor 108, as well as randomaccess memory 110 and nonvolatile storage 112. The hardware platform 104may also include a network adaptor 114 and user interface 116.

The software components 106 are illustrated as separate components butmay make up a single application in some embodiments. In a typicalembodiment, the software components 106 may operate within an operatingsystem environment.

A configuration manager 118 may create installation settings 120 thatmay be used to install, configure, and deploy multiple devices, each ofwhich may operate one or more applications. In many cases, the devicesmay have applications that depend on or work together with otherapplications to form a solution.

The installation settings 120 may be used during an installation processto define a sequence of installation and to configure components thatare installed or will be installed. The installation settings 120 may beconsumed during operating system installation, application installation,or after installation to configure a device to perform an intendedfunction.

The configuration manager 118 may have a user interface 121 that may beused to solicit information from a user in order to determine how asolution may be installed, configured, and deployed. A user may selectthe applications to be deployed, determine a hardware topology on whichto install the devices to execute the applications, and determinevarious configuration settings and parameters.

The installation settings 120 may define how each of the various devicesmay be installed and deployed. The devices may be installed as virtualmachine guest, or as a non-virtual machine directly on a hardwareplatform.

In many cases, some devices may be better suited for virtual deploymentthan other devices. For example, a device that performs gatewayfunctions between a local area network and a wide area network may bebetter suited for deployment directly on a physical hardware platform.Such a device may perform malware scanning, quarantining, or otherfunctions that may be better suited for a separate hardware platform.

The deployment of virtual or non-virtual devices may vary with theavailable hardware platforms. In some cases, two server platforms may beavailable but three or more devices may be installed. In such cases, atleast two devices may be virtualized on a single hardware platform.

Some devices may be deployed as virtual devices when large amounts ofgrowth may be expected or when an administrator wishes to haveflexibility in hardware platforms. When two or more devices may belightly used, the devices may be virtualized and consolidated on asingle hardware platform. When the demand increases, the virtual devicesmay be moved to separate hardware platforms. Virtual devices may alsoallow the hardware platforms to be updated and modified withoutreinstalling and configuring the virtual device.

The configuration manager 118 may use a mapper 124 or other mechanism todetermine a hardware topology. The hardware topology may identify thevarious hardware platforms in which the devices may be installed, andmay include performance or other capabilities of the devices.

A mapper 124 may be an automated mechanism for querying a hardwaredevice to determine characteristics of the device as well as parametersthat may be configured. In some cases, the mapper 124 may be used toquery hardware and software capabilities of existing virtual machinehosts, as well as settings used by the virtual machine host forconfiguring virtual machine guests.

In some embodiments, a user interface 121 may be used to collecthardware topology information. In embodiments where a new server or newhardware platform is available for installing a device, the new hardwareplatform may not have an operating system installed and a mapper 124 maynot be able to detect and query such a hardware platform.

The user interface 121 may include interactive components, such aswizards, dialog boxes, or other mechanisms to gather configurationinformation about the hardware platforms. In some embodiments, variousperformance characteristics may be gathered for the hardware platforms,such as processor speed, amount and speed of random access memory,amount and speed of nonvolatile storage, network interface adaptors,peripheral devices, user interface devices, and other information.

The hardware topology may be used by the configuration manager 118 todetermine an optimized placement of the various devices, as well asconfiguration settings for specific devices that may optimize theperformance of certain applications on those hardware platforms.

The configuration manager 118 may assist a user in selecting anappropriate configuration for virtual and non-virtual devices in severalmanners. The configuration manager 118 may use a set of predefinedconfigurations 122 that may define suggested or possible configurations.The configurations may identify which devices may be deployed asnon-virtual devices, and which devices may be virtualized and, in somecases, combined with other virtual devices on a single virtual machinehost.

In many embodiments, the configuration manager 118 may determine ahardware topology and then identify which of the predefinedconfigurations 122 may be applicable to the current hardware topology,and present a subset of the predefined configurations 122 for a user toselect.

Some embodiments may have an optimizer 128. An optimizer 128 maydetermine an optimized configuration for the devices on a given hardwaretopology. The optimizer 128 may operate in several different manners todetermine an optimized placement, and may use performancecharacteristics of the software within each device to determine thedevice placement, at least in part.

In many cases, each device may have applications that have performancecharacteristics 126. The performance characteristics may define how agiven application performs based on certain hardware configuration. Forexample, some software applications may use large amounts of randomaccess memory and the application's performance may deterioratesubstantially when small amounts of memory are present. Other softwareapplications may be bounded by access to nonvolatile memory. Suchapplications may perform only as well as the bandwidth and speed of anattached disk drive. Still other applications may be bounded by theprocessor speed, capability, and parallelism. Such applications mayoperate fast when multiple processor cores are available, for example.

The optimizer 128 may evaluate the various devices to be installed andmay match a device with a hardware platform on which the device may beinstalled. In one embodiment, the optimizer 128 may use heuristics orrules to select an optimized configuration. In such an embodiment, theoptimizer 128 may assign a device with a memory-limited application to ahardware platform with large amounts of random access memory. In anotherexample, the optimizer 128 may assign a device with large disk storageusage to a hardware platform with sufficient storage capacity.

In some embodiments, the optimizer 128 may create multiple scenarios andthen evaluate the scenarios to select an optimized scenario. In such anembodiment, the optimizer 128 may identify many different scenarios thatdefine assignments of devices on hardware platforms, and then rank eachscenario based on the performance characteristics 126 to score or rankthe scenarios. In many such embodiments, the optimizer 128 may identifymany tens or hundreds of device placement scenarios to select anoptimized scenario.

An optimizer 128 may take into account non-homogenous hardware platformsand many different performance characteristics of the applicationswithin the devices to select an optimized solution. In some cases, anoptimizing mechanism may identify an optimized solution that may bedifferent from a simple heuristic or formulaic selection process.

The optimizer 128 may consider various scenarios where devices may beinstalled as virtual machines. In such scenarios, one, two, or moredevices may be deployed as virtual machine guests on one or more virtualmachine hosts.

The optimizer 128 may consider user preferences, company policies, andother factors in selecting an optimized scenario. For example, anadministrator or company policy may be to optimize applicationperformance. Such a policy may favor having high performanceapplications directly on a hardware platform without virtualization. Ina different embodiment, the company policy may be to optimizeflexibility and growth, which may favor having more devices virtualizedso that they can be moved between hardware platforms.

The performance characteristics 126 may be predefined rules, bestpractices, or other characteristics of the software components. Suchperformance characteristics may be based on a generic implementation orguidelines provided by a software manufacturer, for example.

The performance characteristics 126 may be based in part on existingapplications that may be operating in a hardware environment, in someembodiments. For example, assume that one or more devices to beinstalled provided email and other messaging services. The performancecharacteristics 126 may be populated in part by the characteristics ofan existing messaging service that may be operating within theorganization. In the example, the disk space consumed by an existingmessaging service may be used as a baseline to select a hardwareplatform on which a device with a new messaging service may beinstalled. The new hardware platform may be chosen to have enough diskspace based on the existing messaging database, for example.

A verifier 130 may verify that a selected scenario meets minimumqualifications. Some embodiments may allow a user to interact with theconfiguration manager 118 through a user interface 121 to select aconfiguration. In such embodiments, the user may interact with a userinterface 121 to modify settings, assign different devices to differenthardware platforms. As the user makes a change to a proposed setting,the verifier 130 may determine if the change is permitted or not, orwhether the change may result in poorer performance or not.

In some embodiments, the verifier 130 may be used in conjunction with anoptimizer 128 to screen out scenarios that do not meet minimumcapabilities or configurations. In such embodiments, the verifier 130may remove many possible scenarios from consideration by the optimizer128 and reduce the processing time of the optimizer 128.

A sequencer 132 may determine an order for installation of the devices.In some embodiments, certain devices may have dependencies on otherdevices. More specifically, certain applications or services on somedevices may have dependencies on applications or services on otherdevices. Based on those dependencies, an installation sequence may bedefined.

Some dependencies may be two-way dependencies, where two devices mayeach depend on services or applications on the other device. In suchcases, one device may be installed first and partially configured, thenthe other device may be installed and configured, then the first devicemay be further configured.

The installation settings 120 may include all of the information thatmay be used by an installation director 134 to cause an installation tobe performed. The installation director 134 may be an application thatcauses an installation to be performed and may configure operatingsystems, virtual machine guests, virtual machine hosts, applications,services, and other components. In some embodiments, the installationdirector 134 may operate from the device 102 to cause an installation tobe performed on another device. For example, the installation director134 may cause a virtual machine guest to be created on a virtual machinehost and install a device as the virtual machine guest.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an embodiment 200, showing a network embodimentwith a multi-device solution. Embodiment 200 is a simplified example ofa network environment in which multiple devices may be installed todeliver a solution, and where some of the devices may be virtualdevices.

The diagram of FIG. 2 illustrates functional components of a system. Insome cases, the component may be a hardware component, a softwarecomponent, or a combination of hardware and software. Some of thecomponents may be application level software, while other components maybe operating system level components. In some cases, the connection ofone component to another may be a close connection where two or morecomponents are operating on a single hardware platform. In other cases,the connections may be made over network connections spanning longdistances. Each embodiment may use different hardware, software, andinterconnection architectures to achieve the described functions.

Embodiment 200 may be a simplified example of a network environment thatmay be found in a small business or other organization. A pair of serverdevices may provide various services for client devices. In a typicalembodiment, the server devices may provide gateway connectivity,firewall, and filtering services, as well as file management andmessaging services.

The solution that may be deployed in embodiment 200 may be three or moredevices, but the solution may be deployed on a hardware topology of twohardware platforms.

A network 202 may have multiple devices attached. Devices 204 and 206may be hardware platforms on which are installed applications andservices using installation settings created by a configuration manager.The device 242 may be similar to the device 102 with a configurationmanager application, and may create installation settings 244 that wereused to install and configure devices 204 and 206.

Device 204 is illustrated as a hardware platform 208 on which anoperating system 210 is installed. Applications 212 and services 214 areoperable on the operation system 210.

The hardware platform 208 may be any hardware platform capable ofexecuting the software components illustrated. One example of such ahardware platform may be the hardware platform 104 illustrated inembodiment 100. In the example of embodiment 200 of a company network,the hardware platform 208 may be a server computer, for example.

Device 204 may be a device that was installed in a non-virtual manner.Sometimes such an installation may be referred to as a direct or nativeinstallation. An example of such an installation is illustrated anddiscussed in embodiment 300 presented later in this specification.

Device 206 may be a device that contains a virtual machine host andseveral virtual machine guests. The device 206 may have a hardwareplatform 216 and an operating system 218. A virtual machine host 220 mayexecute within the operating system 218 with a virtual device manager222. The virtual machine host 220 may create a virtual environment 224on which one or more virtual machine guests 228 may operate.

Each virtual machine may have a virtual device 230. The virtual device230 may be a software construct that simulates a hardware platform. Inmany cases, the virtual device 230 may be configured with specificamounts of random access memory, storage memory, network connections,and other components as would a hardware platform.

Because the virtual device 230 can be configured in software, eachvirtual device 230 may be differently configured. For example, somevirtual devices may be configured with more random access memory orstorage memory than other virtual devices. In some embodiments, theactual hardware components may be allocated to virtual devices 230. Forexample, each virtual device 230 may be allocated a portion of thememory contained in the hardware platform 216. In some embodiments, thetotal amount of memory allocated to virtual machines may be less thanthe total amount of memory on the hardware platform.

Each virtual device 230 may have its own operating system 231, on whichapplications 232 and services 234 may execute. In some embodiments,different virtual machine guests 228 may have different operatingsystems 231.

A virtual machine manager 222 may be an application that manages thevarious virtual machine guests 228. In many embodiments, the virtualmachine manager 222 may be used to start, stop, and manage the operationof a virtual machine guest. Some virtual machine managers may also becapable of creating new virtual machine guests, configuring virtualdevices, and performing other actions.

The devices 204 and 206 may provide applications and services that makeup a solution that may be accessed by various client devices 236. In theexample of a small business, the solution may provide authenticationservices, file services, email applications, and other functions tomultiple devices.

A management interface 238 may be used in some solutions to managevarious components of a solution. A management interface 238 may be ahigh level interface through which various components of the solutionmay be viewed, configured, and operated.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an embodiment 300, showing a device duringnon-virtual installation. Embodiment 300 is a simplified example of aninstallation process that may use installation settings to install andconfigure an operating system, applications, and services. Embodiment300 may be an example of the installation process that may be used toinstall the device 204 of embodiment 200, for example.

The device 302 may be any type of device on which an operating systemand various applications and services may be installed. In a computernetwork, such devices may be server computers, desktop computers, laptopcomputers, and other computer devices. In some cases, the device 302 maybe a router, switch, or other network management device. In still othercases, the device 302 may be a handheld device such as a mobiletelephone, personal digital assistant, or other computing device.

During an installation process, the hardware platform 304 may be ahardware platform on which no other installation has been performed. Thehardware platform 304 may be bootstrapped using a bootable installationenvironment 306 that may include an installation director 308. Theinstallation director 308 may cause a disk image 312 to be created usinginstallation settings 310. Once the disk image 312 is created, the diskimage 312 may be used to bootstrap the hardware platform 304.

The disk image 312 may contain an operating system 314 as well asapplications 318 and services 322. In some embodiments, the installationdirector 308 may be capable of creating the disk image 312 and settingvarious operating system configuration settings 316, applicationconfiguration settings 320, and service configuration settings 324 priorto bootstrapping the hardware platform 304 and executing the operatingsystem 314.

In some embodiments, a disk image 312 may be created that has theoperating system 314. That disk image may be used to bootstrap thehardware platform 304 so that the operating system 314 is executingdirectly on the hardware platform 304 without the bootable installationenvironment, and then the applications 318 and services 322 may beinstalled and configured.

A configuration application 326 may be installed in the disk image 312and may be executed after bootstrapping using the disk image 312. Theconfiguration application 326 may use installation settings 328 tofinalize the configuration of the operating system 314, applications318, or services 322. In some embodiments, the configuration application326 may install some or all of the applications 318 and services 322.

Applications 318 may be groups of executable code that are designed toperform a specific action or function. In many cases, the applications318 may be complex, such as managing electronic mailboxes, routingmessages, and performing other messaging functions. Services 322 may bebackground operations that may operate when called by applications orother mechanisms. In many cases, services 322 may have an applicationprogramming interface (API) or other mechanism by which the services maybe accessed. In many cases, the installation and configuration ofapplications and services is very similar.

An installation of the device 302 may involve providing executable codefor the bootable installation environment 306 to the hardware platform304. A hardware platform may have multiple devices from which theplatform may be bootstrapped. For example, a hardware platform may becapable of bootstrapping over a network connection, through a DigitalVersatile Disk (DVD) reader, through a Universal Serial Bus (USB)device, as well as hard disks attached to the device.

In a typical use, a DVD containing an executable bootable installationenvironment 306 as well as some or all of the information used to createa disk image 312 may be loaded into a DVD reader. The hardware platform304 may be started and may read and execute the bootable installationenvironment 306 to begin installation.

During the installation, the installation settings 310 may be providedon a second memory storage device. For example, the installationsettings 310 may be provided on a USB flash memory device, a DVD disk,or other storage device. The installation settings 310 may be theinstallation settings 120 of embodiment 100.

In some embodiments, the installation settings 310 may include all ofthe installation settings for all of the devices being installed in asolution. In other embodiments, the installation settings 310 mayinclude a subset of installation settings for all of the devices.

The installation settings 328 may be a separate set of installationsettings, or may be a subset of installation settings 310 that may beused for configuration after the disk image 312 is booted. For example,a USB flash drive may be attached to the hardware platform 304 thatcontains both the installation settings 310 and installation settings328.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an embodiment 400, showing a device during afirst stage of a virtual installation. Embodiment 400 is a simplifiedexample of an installation process that may use installation settings toinstall and configure an operating system to host virtual machineguests. Embodiment 400 may be an example of the installation processthat may be used to install the device 206 of embodiment 200, forexample.

Embodiment 400 is similar to embodiment 300, but the installationprocess may occur in two steps. In the first step illustrated inembodiment 400, a disk image for a virtual machine host may be created.In a second step illustrated in embodiment 500, a virtual machine guestmay be installed.

The process and mechanisms of installing a virtual machine host may besimilar to that of installing the applications and services asillustrated in embodiment 300.

The device 402 may be a computing device that is capable of hostingvirtual devices. In many computing environments, such devices may bepowerful server computers, but other systems may host virtual devices aswell, such as desktop computers, laptop computers, and other computingdevices.

The hardware platform 404 may be bootstrapped using a bootableinstallation environment 406 that has an installation director 408 andmay use installation settings 410. The hardware platform 404,installation director 408, and installation settings 410 may be similarto the respective components illustrated in embodiment 300.

The installation director 408 may cause a disk image 412 to beconstructed that includes an operating system 414 that includes avirtual device host 418 and a virtual device manager 422. The operatingsystem 414 may have configuration settings 416 and the virtual devicehost 418 may have configuration settings 420 that may be configured bythe installation director 408 using the installation settings 410.

Once the disk image 412 is created, the hardware platform 404 may bebooted using the disk image 412 and the installation operation mayprogress to a stage as illustrated by embodiment 500.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an embodiment 500, showing a device during asecond stage of a virtual installation, and may be a continuation of theinstallation started in embodiment 400. Embodiment 500 is a simplifiedexample of an installation process that may use installation settings toinstall and configure an operating system to host virtual machineguests. Embodiment 500 may be an example of a second step in theinstallation process that may be used to install the device 206 ofembodiment 200, for example.

Embodiment 500 illustrates the device 4020 of embodiment 400 after thevirtual machine host is operational and during the installation of avirtual machine.

The hardware platform 404, operating system 414, virtual machine host418, and virtual device manager 422 are illustrated as operational onthe device 402. The virtual machine host 418 may create a virtualenvironment 424 in which virtual machines 428 and 432 may operate.

The virtual environment 424 may have a virtual network 426 that mayconnect the various virtual machine guests within the virtualenvironment. In many embodiments the virtual network 426 may beconfigured in many different manners. For example, a single virtualnetwork may be created to link the various virtual machines together.Such a network may include a connection to a physical network and otherdevices connected to the physical network. In some cases, two or morevirtual networks may be created to join different virtual machines todifferent physical networks.

Virtual machine 428 may be illustrated as having been installed andoperational. The virtual machine 428 may comprise a virtual device 430,an operating system 432, and applications 434.

The virtual machine 432 may be illustrated as in the process of beinginstalled. The virtual device 434 may be operational with a bootableinstallation environment 436 with an installation director 438 andinstallation settings 440. In many embodiments, the bootableinstallation environment 436, installation director 438, andinstallation settings 440 may be the same executable software that maybe used for direct installation onto physical hardware, such as the samecomponents of embodiment 200.

The installation director 438 may create a disk image 442 that maycontain an operating system 446, applications 454, services 458, and aconfiguration application 450. The installation director 438 may use theinstallation settings 440 to modify the configuration settings 448, 456,and 460 of the operating system 446, applications 454, and services 458,respectively.

In many embodiments, a configuration application 450 may be installedand may execute when the disk image 442 is used to bootstrap the virtualdevice 434. The configuration application 450 may use installationsettings 452 to perform additional configuration tasks on the operatingsystem 446, applications 454, and service 458.

The illustrations of embodiments 400 and 500 show one example of aprocess for installing and configuring devices as virtual machines. Thedevices may have installation settings that may be used by aninstallation director or configuration application to configure variousportions of the devices, including configuring a virtual device,configuring a virtual network, installing and configuring an operatingsystem, as well as applications and services.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustration of an embodiment 600 showing a methodfor installing devices. Embodiment 600 is an example process that may beused to generate installation settings and use those installationsettings to install devices directly on physical hardware or as virtualmachine guests in a virtual machine host.

Other embodiments may use different sequencing, additional or fewersteps, and different nomenclature or terminology to accomplish similarfunctions. In some embodiments, various operations or set of operationsmay be performed in parallel with other operations, either in asynchronous or asynchronous manner. The steps selected here were chosento illustrate some principles of operations in a simplified form.

Embodiment 600 may show a simplified method for performing aninstallation process. The installation process involves creating theinstallation settings, which may include determining which devices areimplemented virtually, and then using those installation settings toinstall and configure the devices.

In block 602, the devices to be installed may be determined. In a largesolution that may comprise multiple devices, multiple applications, andmultiple hardware platforms, a user may be able to identify a subset ofthose devices to install. In many cases, the identification of block 602may also include determining performance characteristics, minimumhardware parameters, and other information that may be used to determinedevice placement and device configuration.

A hardware topology may be determined in block 604. The hardwaretopology may include identifying which hardware platforms are available.The hardware topology may also include performance descriptions of thehardware platforms, including any peripheral devices, connections tonetworks, memory capacity, storage capacity, processor capacity. In somecases, the hardware topology may include identifying any pre-installedsoftware such as operating systems, services, or applications.

Device placement and configuration may be determined in block 606,including determining which hardware platforms will host which devices,and if those device are to be hosted as virtual machines. The operationsof block 606 may include optimizing, verifying, and other selectionoperations as described in embodiment 100 for the optimizer 128,verifier 130, and sequencer 132.

For each device in block 608, installation settings for the device maybe generated in block 610. The installation settings may be parameters,scripts, sequences, or other information that may be consumed by aninstallation director or configuration application. The installationsettings may include settings used in a bootable installationenvironment or in an operating system environment.

The installation settings may be distributed in block 612. In caseswhere a device is installed on a bare hardware platform, theinstallation settings may be made available on a USB flash memorydevice, DVD, or other media. In some cases, the installation settingsmay be distributed over a network to the hardware platform during theinstallation and configuration process.

For each device according to the sequence in block 614, the installationmay occur. The installation illustrated in embodiment 600 includes afull installation of each device. Other embodiments may include amulti-pass installation system where two or more devices may havedependencies on each other. Such an installation system may have onedevice partially installed, then another device installed, then thefirst device may have the installation completed.

The installation process may begin with an installation director beingexecuted with the installation settings in block 616. If theinstallation is not a virtual installation in block 618, the operatingsystem may be installed in block 620 and configured in block 622. Theapplications may be installed in block 624 and configured in block 626.

In some embodiments, an installation director may create a disk imagethat may be bootable by a hardware platform or virtual device. Some suchembodiments may create a disk image with a configured operating systemand applications prior to bootstrapping the respective hardware platformor virtual device.

Other embodiments may use an installation director to install anoperating system and, in some cases partially configure the operatingsystem. Such embodiments may bootstrap the device and perform additionalconfiguration and installation activities with a configurationapplication that may execute within the operating system environment.

If the device is to be installed as a virtual machine guest in block618, and the virtual machine host does not exist in block 628, thevirtual machine host may be installed in block 630 and configured inblock 632.

When the virtual host exists and is configured in either blocks 628 or632, the virtual device may be created in block 634 and configured inblock 636. Once the virtual device is configured and operational, theinstallation may proceed with block 620.

The foregoing description of the subject matter has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the subject matter to the precise form disclosed,and other modifications and variations may be possible in light of theabove teachings. The embodiment was chosen and described in order tobest explain the principles of the invention and its practicalapplication to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilizethe invention in various embodiments and various modifications as aresuited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that theappended claims be construed to include other alternative embodimentsexcept insofar as limited by the prior art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: one or more processors;system memory coupled to the one or more processors, the system memorystoring instructions that are executable by the one or more processors;the one or more processors executing the instructions stored in thesystem memory to create installation settings for installing a set ofseparate software components, wherein the seperate software componentswithin the set of separate software components are configured tocommunicate with one another on a network, wherein to createinstallation settings for installing the set of separate softwarecomponents includes the following: determine an optimized set ofinstallation settings for optimized placement of the set of separatesoftware components on a plurality of different platforms on thenetwork, including: compare each of a plurality of sets of installationsettings to a set of predefined minimum configurations for at least someof software components included in the set of separate softwarecomponents; identify one or more sets of installation settings, fromamong the plurality of sets of installation settings, that meet the setof predefined minimum configurations by screening out one or more othersets of installation instructions, from among said plurality of sets ofinstallation settings, that fail to meet the set of predefined minimumconfigurations; and select the optimized set of installation settingsfrom among the one or more sets of installation instructions, whereinthe optimized set of installation settings is based at least in part onone or more of characteristics of, functions of, anticipated use of,preferences regarding, or policies regarding at least one softwarecomponent included in the set of separate software components or atleast one platform included in the plurality of different platforms onthe network; and store the optimized set of installation settings in aformat at least partially consumable by an installation manager toinstall the set of separate software components on the plurality ofdifferent platforms, wherein the installation manager can automaticallyperform the optimized set of installation settings in the format that isat least partially consumable by the installation manager.
 2. The systemof claim 1, the one or more processors executing the instructions storedin the system memory to identify one or more sets of installationsettings comprises the one or more processors executing the instructionsstored in the system memory to identify a device to install as anon-virtual machine.
 3. The system of claim 1, further comprising theone or more processors executing the instructions stored in the systemmemory to: install a virtual machine host; configure the virtual machinehost using the optimized set of installation settings; install a firstdevice on the virtual machine host as a virtual machine guest; andconfigure the virtual machine guest using the optimized set ofinstallation settings.
 4. The system of claim 3, further comprising theone or more processors executing the instructions stored in the systemmemory to: install a second device as a second virtual machine guest onthe virtual machine host.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the one ormore processors executing the instructions stored in the system memoryto determine the optimized set of installation settings comprises theone or more processors executing the instructions stored in the systemmemory to determine settings used for configuring a pre-installedvirtual machine host and installing a device on the pre-installedvirtual machine host.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or moreprocessors executing the instructions stored in the system memory todetermine the optimized set of installation settings comprises the oneor more processors executing the instructions stored in the systemmemory to determine a hardware topology.
 7. The system of claim 6,wherein the one or more processors executing the instructions stored inthe system memory to determine the hardware topology comprise the one ormore processors executing the instructions stored in the system memoryto determine the hardware topology by presenting an input mechanism to auser.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processorsexecuting the instructions stored in the system memory to determine theoptimized set of installation settings comprises the one or moreprocessors executing the instructions stored in the system memory toidentify installation settings defining a first number of hardwareplatforms that is less than a second number of the plurality ofdifferent platforms on the network.
 9. The system of claim 1, whereinthe one or more processors executing the instructions stored in thesystem memory to determine the optimized set of installation settingscomprises the one or more processors executing the instructions storedin the system memory to identify installation settings defined in XML.10. A method for creating installation settings for installing a set ofseparate software components, wherein the seperate software componentswithin the set of separate software components are configured tocommunicate with one another on a network, the method comprising:determining an optimized set of installation settings for optimizedplacement of the set of separate software components on a plurality ofdifferent platforms on the network, including: comparing each of aplurality of sets of installation settings to a set of predefinedminimum configurations for at least some of software components includedin the set of separate software components; identifying one or more setsof installation settings, from among the plurality of sets ofinstallation settings, that meet the set of predefined minimumconfigurations by screening out one or more other sets of installationinstructions, from among said plurality of sets of installationsettings, that fail to meet the set of predefined minimumconfigurations; and selecting the optimized set of installation settingsfrom among the one or more sets of installation instructions, whereinthe optimized set of installation settings is based at least in part onone or more of characteristics of, functions of, anticipated use of,preferences regarding, or policies regarding at least one softwarecomponent included in the set of separate software components or atleast one platform included in the plurality of different platforms onthe network; and storing the optimized set of installation settings in aformat at least partially consumable by an installation manager toinstall the set of separate software components on the plurality ofdifferent platforms, wherein the installation manager can automaticallyperform the optimized set of installation settings in the format that isat least partially consumable by the installation manager.
 11. Themethod of claim 10, further comprising: installing a virtual machinehost; configuring the virtual machine host using the optimized set ofinstallation settings; installing a device on the virtual machine hostas a virtual machine guest; and configuring the virtual machine guestusing the optimized set of installation settings.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising: installing an application on the virtualmachine guest; installing a configuration application on the virtualmachine guest; and executing the configuration application to configurethe application using at least a portion of the optimized set ofinstallation settings.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprisingconfiguring a virtual network on the virtual machine host using at leastthe portion of the optimized set of installation settings.
 14. Themethod of claim 11, wherein saving the optimized set of installationsettings comprises saving the optimized set of installation settings ona removable storage device.
 15. The method of claim 11, whereindetermining the optimized set of installation settings comprisesdetermining a hardware topology of the network.
 16. A computer programproduct for use at a computer system, the computer program product forimplementing a method for creating installation settings for installinga set of separate software components, wherein the seperate softwarecomponents within the set of separate software components are configuredto communicate with one another on a network, the computer programproduct comprising a computer hardware storage device having storedthereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed at aprocessor, cause the computer system to perform the method, the methodincluding the following: determine an optimized set of installationsettings for optimized placement of the set of separate softwarecomponents on a plurality of different platforms on the network,including: compare each of a plurality of sets of installation settingsto a set of predefined minimum configurations for at least some ofsoftware components included in the set of separate software components;identify one or more sets of installation settings, from among theplurality of sets of installation settings, that meet the set ofpredefined minimum configurations by screening out one or more othersets of installation instructions, from among said plurality of sets ofinstallation settings, that fail to meet the set of predefined minimumconfigurations; and select the optimized set of installation settingsfrom among the one or more sets of installation instructions, whereinthe optimized set of installation settings is based at least in part onone or more of characteristics of, functions of, anticipated use of,preferences regarding, or policies regarding at least one softwarecomponent included in the set of separate software components or atleast one platform included in the plurality of different platforms onthe network; and store the optimized set of installation settings in aformat at least partially consumable by an installation manager toinstall the set of separate software component on the plurality ofdifferent platforms, wherein the installation manager can automaticallyperform the optimized set of installation settings in the format that isat least partially consumable by the installation manager.
 17. Thecomputer program product of claim 16, wherein computer-executableinstructions that, when executed at the processor, cause the computersystem to determine the optimized set of installation settings foroptimized placement of a plurality of devices comprisecomputer-executable instructions that, when executed at the processor,cause the computer system to determine a hardware topology of thenetwork.
 18. The computer program product of claim 16, whereincomputer-executable instructions that, when executed at the processor,cause the computer system to determine the optimized set of installationsettings for optimized placement of a plurality of devices comprisecomputer-executable instructions that, when executed at the processor,cause the computer system to determine settings used for configuring avirtual machine host and installing a device on the virtual machinehost.
 19. The computer program product of claim 18, whereincomputer-executable instructions that, when executed at the processor,cause the computer system to: install the virtual machine host;configure the virtual machine host using the optimized set ofinstallation settings; installing the device on the virtual machine hostas a virtual machine guest; and configuring the virtual machine guestusing the optimized set of installation settings.
 20. The computerprogram product of claim 19, wherein computer-executable instructionsthat, when executed at the processor, cause the computer system to:install an application on the virtual machine guest; install aconfiguration application on the virtual machine guest; and execute theconfiguration application to configure the application using at least aportion of the optimized set of installation settings.